NEW YORK —Richard Hatch, a veteran actor known for his portrayal of a hotshot pilot on the 1970s science-fiction television series “Battlestar Galactica’’ and a political leader in a reboot of the series two decades later, died Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 71.

His son, Paul, said Mr. Hatch had pancreatic cancer.

Mr. Hatch played Captain Apollo, a fighter pilot who was regularly featured with his best friend, Lieutenant Starbuck, played by Dirk Benedict. The original series, which ran on ABC in 1978-79, told the story of humans fighting for survival against robots called Cylons.

In a reboot of the series, shown on the SyFy network for five seasons starting in 2004, he played the charismatic political leader Tom Zarek.

Mr. Hatch — not to be confused with the winner of the first season of the “Survivor’’ reality television series, also named Richard Hatch — was nominated in 1979 for a Golden Globe Award for best actor in a television drama series.

He appeared on several other television series in the 1970s, including “All My Children’’ and “The Streets of San Francisco.’’

A native of Santa Monica, Calif., Mr. Hatch said he initially had no aspiration to become an actor.

In a peculiar twist, it was the assassination of President Kennedy that led Mr. Hatch into acting. He said he was going “nowhere’’ in college and enrolled in an oral interpretation class when a required English course was booked. “It turned out to be my worst nightmare because I had to get up in front of people and read,’’ he said, according to his website. “I found myself flunking the course because I would choke up.’’

Halfway through the course, Kennedy was assassinated, an event that profoundly affected Mr. Hatch. He found an article about the president and took it to class for an assignment. Standing in front of his classmates, he found his voice. “It was a major turning point in my life,’’ he said. “As I began to read this article, I got so affected by what I was saying that I forgot myself.’’